THE national football team can now boast of some bragging rights, which they seldom do.
Malaysia became the first in Group G of the pre-World Cup/Asian Cup second round qualifiers to get three points after a thrilling 3-2 win over Indonesia at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta on Thursday.
Something for Malaysian fans to puff up their chests: Malaysia currently lead the group — ahead of the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia.
National coach Tan Cheng Hoe, in reviewing Malaysia’s game against Indonesia, described it as his team’s “best performance” so far.
The studious Cheng Hoe, who is known for his sound tactical approach, believes he’s nearly got all his pieces in place.
On the match against Indonesia, he said: “After the first half, we were down 2-1. For the second half, I told the team, don’t go home with a defeat.”
Cheng Hoe said he told the players to step up their pace and at the same time, Indonesia suffered a bit of a lapse as they were hanging back.
He said winger Mohamadou Sumareh, who plundered two goals, played his role superbly and his introduction in the 36th minute as a substitute was the right timing.
The Gambian-born Sumareh, who is Malaysia’s first naturalised player (non-heritage), scored in the 37th minute and 97th minutes.
Sumareh showed the qualities of a great goal poacher when he worked his way through the Indonesian defence on the left before firing the ball past goalkeeper Andritany Ardhiyasa.
And Sumareh showed his predatory instinct when he continued to run forward to steer the ball home from Matthew Davies’s low cross though another teammate was infront of him.
Cheng Hoe said: “Sumareh hasn’t been fit due to injuries but we really needed him to come in. And that became the turning point for the team.
“This had a good impact on the team in the second half and we can see the team were focused until the final whistle.”
Despite not being 100 per cent due to his groin injury, Sumareh fired up Harimau Malaya with his presence, and Cheng Hoe hopes the others will step up especially a lacklustre Hadin.
“As a player, he (Hadin) would feel a bit frustrated and disappointed to be taken off early but he needs to take it as a challenge, and he’s a good player.
“As a coach, I encourage him but maybe he seemed lost (against Indonesia) but definitely, the team support him and he has the potential to be better.”
Cheng Hoe is calling on his team to raise their game to another level as their next group match is against World No 65 United Arab Emirates on Tuesday at National Stadium.
Cheng Hoe admitted that UAE are on a much different level compared to Indonesia, and his advice to the players is keep focused, work hard and continue their momentum.
Cheng Hoe said there may be some tactical changes for the UAE match but he said the UAE team are not just about Omar Abdulrahman (voted best player in Asia and Ali Mabkhout.
“UAE have good players in each position and that is something we really need to be aware of.”